Whole Foods may take the place of your local Sears

The grocery chain is looking to take over vacant spaces left by Sears

(NEW YORK, NY) —Whole Foods, the popular American supermarket chain, is eyeing the vacated commercial spaces left by Sears and Kmart.

Over the past three years, Sears has closed 123 Sears stores and 205 Kmart stores. In October of 2018, Sears Chairman Eddie Lampert filed for bankruptcy.

After Amazon acquired Whole Foods back in 2017 (for $13.7 billion), the company put forth a plan for massive expansion. Whole foods currently has 420 stores in the U.S.

While it has not been confirmed, reports state that Amazon is considering the idea. As part of the expansion plan, the company is looking to place Whole Foods in various states across the U.S. that do not currently have the chain.

The amount of vacant stores Whole foods will take over is contingent on whether or not Lampert is able to buy Sears out of bankruptcy. Sears is currently operating out of 425 storefronts, a massive drop from 4,000 is 2012. The fate of the company is pending.